DALLAS, May 9, 2011 - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today that widely respected ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer will emcee the May 15 announcement of the 2012 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame from the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The announcement will take place at the NASDAQ OMX MarketSite in the heart of Times Square at 11:30 a.m., ET. Fans can watch a live stream on the web at the NFF onDemand YouTube Channel (direct link) or at www.footballfoundation.org or on ESPN3.com (direct link).

"One of the top analysts in college football today, we are honored that Jesse Palmer has agreed to emcee this year's announcement," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Induction into the College Football Hall of Fame represents the pinnacle of achievement in our sport, and Jesse's talents will ensure that the breaking news associated with this event is delivered in a manner that does justice to the storied careers of players and coaches who have reached college football's mountain top."

A great friend of the National Football Foundation, Palmer emceed the 2009 Enshrinement Show at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., and he has been an active participant in many of the NFF events over the years. At least two of the inductees from the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame class will join Palmer for the announcement. A media lunch will follow the announcement.

The NASDAQ OMX is hosting the event for the fourth consecutive year while XOS Digital is producing the NFF web streams for the second consecutive year. The Orange Bowl and the law firm of Troutman Sanders are providing significant support for the event as the supporting sponsors of the announcement.

Jesse Palmer's Bio

Jesse Palmer joined ESPN in 2007 as a college football analyst. The former University of Florida quarterback joined the network after five seasons in the NFL. Before 2008, Palmer primarily worked in the studio.

In 2008, Palmer became a college football analyst on the ESPN College Football Primetime Thursday game, joining announcer Chris Fowler and former analyst Craig James in the booth. Palmer also serves as a studio analyst on College Football Live, ESPN's daily college football show at 3:30 p.m.

In 2009, Palmer added ABC Studio analyst to his duties, joining longtime analyst John Saunders in providing pregame, halftime and postgame analysis for every telecast on ABC and during the half-hour College Football Countdown at 3 p.m. He previously provided studio analysis on Saturdays throughout the season, primarily on ESPN2 with host Wendi Nix. In 2012 he co-hosted the weekly Palmer & Pollack college football studio show on ESPNU.

Palmer's broadcast career began with Fox Sports Net, with analysis during Arena Football League games. He was later a game and studio analyst for CSTV in late 2005, and he worked NFL games for Fox in 2006. He has been featured as an analyst on the NFL Network, and he has done studio work with MSG.

From 1997-2000 at Florida, Palmer alternated at quarterback with Doug Johnson and then Rex Grossman. In 14 starts through 27 games played, Palmer is 11th on the Gators' career-record list with 3,755 yards passing, and 12th in career touchdown passes with 31. For his career, he completed 254 passes. He also was named to the Southeastern Conference's academic honor roll in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and he earned the Dr. Lombardi GPA Award in the spring of 1999.

The New York Giants selected Palmer 125th overall in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He spent four years with the Giants. In 2003, starting three of the six games in which he played, Palmer completed 60 passes for 532 yards and three touchdowns. In 2005, he briefly spent time with the San Francisco 49ers, and later played for the CFL's Montreal Alouettes.

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Palmer is fluent in French. His father, Bill, played in the CFL, with the Ottawa Rough Riders. Jesse's brother, Billy, played college football at Notre Dame. Palmer graduated from Florida with bachelor's degrees in marketing and political science. He currently lives in New York City.

(Note: Last year's class of College Football Hall of Famers from the Football Bowl Subdivision, who were inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 6, 2011, will be enshrined this summer at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., with the divisional class, which will be announced on May 22. The FBS class being announced on May 15 will be inducted on Dec.4, 2012 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and enshrined in the summer of 2013.)